The Truth Is, I Am Iron Daddy
by Charlie'sLostVampire
Summary: Tony and Pepper had a plan. Their daughter wouldn't know about her father's dangerous life until she was old enough to understand its meaning. But keeping it quiet turns out to be much harder than it seemed...


About six months into the pregnancy, Pepper and Tony came to an agreement. They wouldn't tell their child about their father's not-so-secret identity until they were old enough to understand its true significance. Not to mention, merely knowing could be putting them in danger. They'd both learned that the hard way.

But, Tony learned rather quickly that it wasn't going to be so easy keeping it quiet. The first few months weren't so bad; Anastasia was a content baby, perfectly happy with sleeping on Pepper's lap while she tapped away on her laptop and Tony tinkered, as usual, in the workshop. It wasn't until she reached the toddling age that things became a problem.

For a while, it had made Tony smug that he seemed to be his daughter's favorite. Wherever he went, she toddled after him, pulling at his pant-leg and chewing her fingers with her trademark giggle and a grin that could only be described as Tony-like. But how was he supposed to get any work done on upgrading the suits if he had a one-year-old trailing after him?

Finally, after his constant complaining had started to drive her crazy, Pepper snapped.

"Pep? Think you could entertain Ana for a-?"

"I'm _busy,_" she gritted out, clearly more than stressed. She'd been working from home ever since Ana was born, determined to keep the business afloat and raise a baby at the same time. Tony thought she was crazy for turning down a few months full leave. Pepper thought _he_ was crazy for honestly considering handing over the reins of the company to somebody else.

Currently, she was hunched over a pile of paperwork with her reading glasses on, and Tony arched an eyebrow as he shook his leg a bit, trying to loosen Anastasia's hold on him. She was clinging to his leg with both her arms and legs, so that he lifted her up each time he took a step.

"Too busy for your daughter?" he questioned, and she rolled her blue eyes, frowning deeply over at him.

"She's your daughter, too," she reminded him, and he wiggled his leg again.

"I _know_ that," he stated, shaking his head, "Obviously. How else would she already be smart enough to know how to get the baby gates open?"

Shaking her head, Pepper looked back down at her work, writing something down and waving a hand at him dismissively.

"Go. Out of my office. Now. If she's getting on your nerves, why not buy her some real toys instead of inventing them? Babies like that stuff."

Frowning, Tony bent down and removed Anastasia from his leg, picking her up. Instantly, she gripped his hair and pulled, causing him to wince. "She loves my toys," he stated, turning to look his daughter in her little blue eyes. "Don't you, Ana Banana? You like the toys Daddy made you…"

"No!" she squealed with a giggle, hitting him on his nose. He swore he saw Pepper grin at her response.

"_Fine,_" he grumbled, turning to go. "I'll buy her a stupid teddy bear or something."

… . … . … . … . … . … . … . …

"Blue or pink?" Tony asked Anastasia as he stood in one of the many crowded aisles of the local Toys R' Us, holding up two teddy bears for her to choose from. Of course, that wasn't all he'd gotten her; the cart was also filled to the brim with a Disney Princess play castle, about a dozen stuffed dolls with creepy button eyes that seemed to fascinate her, a blow up swimming pool, a baby doll with a stroller that was so pink it made your eyes burn, a robotic puppy that followed you around everywhere and barked when you said its name, and a tea party set. Not to mention, he'd stopped at the jewellery store a few shops down and had her fitted for a custom-made tiara.

What? If she wanted to be a princess and have a tea party in a castle, a tiara was the least he could do. She was Tony Stark's daughter, after all, and he planned on spoiling her rotten. The best part; Pepper couldn't even scold him for it. It _was_ her idea, after all. The thought had made him smirk.

"Bwue!" she cheered from her spot in the cart as she clapped, bouncing up and down with excitement. Grinning at the sight, he gently nuzzled the bears nose against hers, causing her to giggle and wrap her arms around it happily. "Bwue bear! Bwue bear!"

"Is that his name?" he questioned her with a smirk and a raised eyebrow as he pushed the cart down the aisle, ignoring the stares they were undoubtedly getting. No one had ever seen Tony Stark with his daughter somewhere so… _domestic_ before. Parties? Sure. Events? Of course! But… a _toy store?_

Anastasia nodded in response to his question, perking up suddenly when they turned the corner and pointing at something behind him, almost dropping her newly acquired friend as her mouth widened into a little "o" of surprise.

"Dada!" she cried, leaning forward in the cart against the bar keeping her in place, pointing erratically. "Dada! Dada Dada Dada!"

Tony's brow furrowed and he paused at her display, arching an eyebrow.

"What?" he asked, turning to see what had gotten her so excited. It was probably another one of those creepy dolls they had missed. "What is…?"

He had to stop himself from swearing in front of her at the sight, partly because he knew Pepper would skin him if Anastasia stared running around saying "shit" without knowing it was bad.

But he had good reason to want to swear. Ever since the events in New York, toy companies had marketed "Avengers" merchandise like crazy, and were making good profit for it, too. Of course, none of the others had agreed to advertising, but Tony, being as self-obsessed as he was, had agreed in an instant. Women already loved him; why shouldn't kids, too? He'd done about a dozen photo shoots for different companies with the suit, endorsing different plastic helmets and action figures; the whole nine yards. Currently, he and his daughter were standing a few feet away from a fairly huge display of Iron Man toys, with his face plastered on the posters surrounding them. Shots of, much to his horror, him in the suit.

"Dada!" Anastasia cried for what had to be the hundredth time, and Tony swallowed roughly. He and Pepper had a deal. Ana wasn't to know about Iron Man until she got older. At least until she started school. This was _very_ bad.

"Uhh…" he fumbled, before taking a deep breath. Anastasia _was_ still a baby. All she knew was that was her father's face on those posters. She didn't understand what they _meant. _"Yeah," he finally stated with a nod, kissing her soft brown hair. "Yeah, that's me."

Giggling at his kiss, Anastasia's eyes stayed locked on the posters until Tony turned another corner to head for the checkout, slightly faster than he'd been walking before. Even at such a young age, Ana couldn't help wondering why so many children stopped dead when they saw her father and whispered eagerly to their parents, "_That's Iron Man!_"

…who was Iron Man? That was only her daddy.

… . … . … . … . … . … . … . …

"So… about our plan."

Pepper looked up from her laptop that evening when Tony walked upstairs from the workshop. They'd put Anastasia to bed a few hours ago after she tuckered herself out with her new toys (she still had to yell at him for spoiling her later), and he'd disappeared after that. To her surprise, he didn't smell of grease and metal. If he hadn't been working on the suits, what was he doing?

"Plan?" Pepper asked, curious enough to close her computer and give him her full attention as he sat on the couch beside her. She recognized the look on his face. It was his Pepper-I've-Been-Doing-Some-Serious-Thinking face. He'd pulled the same one when he proposed.

"Yeah… the Iron Baby plan."

"The _what?_" she asked, her eyes widening, and he furrowed his brow at her reaction.

"What? Is it a bad name? I meant the plan about when we'll tell Ana the truth."

Sagging, Pepper shook her head. "Thank _God._ I thought you meant you'd made some crazy suit for our baby…"

Tony didn't mention that he'd been working on that. He just continued.

"So, yeah. The plan. There was… sort of a problem at the toy store this afternoon."

"A problem?" Frowning, Pepper shook her head. "How could you run into a problem at a toy… store…?" Trailing off, she put two and two together. Not telling Ana about Iron Man. Iron Man. Toy store. _The damn Avengers toys_. "Oh."

"Yeah."

They were both quiet for a few moments. They'd known as soon as she got pregnant that this would be a struggle; they had to keep Anastasia safe from the threats Iron Man's life possessed. But keeping it a secret was going to be near impossible. Was there even a point?

"Pepper…" he stated with a sigh, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She leaned against him out of habit. "Maybe we should just… let it happen. Let her find out on her own. It's easier than purposefully keeping it from her."

Pepper opened her mouth to object, but closed it again. He was right. If she figured it out on her own, it wouldn't be as much of a shock as being told a few years down the road.

"Maybe your right," she agreed, putting her laptop aside and curling against him. They stayed that way for a while before she broke the silence again. "Tony… I'm scared. All of this scares me. What if some revenge bent psycho comes after her…?"

"Then he'll have to go through me," he grumbled at the mere thought, holding her tighter. "She's the safest child in the world, Pepper. Most dads collect stamps or toy cars. _I_ collect weaponized suits that could mutilate anyone who tries to hurt her."

Pepper smiled faintly, a soft laugh escaping her at a sudden thought.

"The teenage boys are going to be terrified of her."

An involuntary smirk curled Tony's lips up as he lounged back on the couch, putting his feet up on the coffee table. It was true, and he loved it. Anastasia was going to be one hell of a looker; he already knew, purely based on who her parents were. Any other father would be worried. But him? As if. Most dads threatened boys who asked out their daughters with a shotgun.

He was _Iron Man_. No shotguns were necessary.


End file.
